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Transporting my new plasma TV flat on its back?

Just bought a new Samsung PN63B590 at my local video store last night but I need to borrow my buddies truck to get it home. The problem is in order to transport it standing up we will need to remove his camper shell. However, the sales person said it's perfectly safe to transport a plasma TV flat on its back (screen side up) as long as you let it sit vertically for a minimum of 24 hours before you turn it on. Any thoughts on this? I Googled this question and got various answers.

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I am posting this, right at the top, into an old thread because this discussio, despite its high Google search ranking for those looking for facts about transporting their plasma TVs, essentially constitutes DISINFORMATION it is so lacking in accuracy.

So let's hear what Samsung, the top manufacturer of plasma TVs, has to say about laying them flat, transporting them, and how long they need to sit if they've been laid on their back (or front).

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/faq/FAQ00022603/22771/Y/<h4 class="popupFAQHOW">Can I Lay My Plasma TV Down?</h4><i><font face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10pt;">The only time the TV needs to be laid on it's face is when you are assembling/disassembling the stand. Anytime else, during transport especially, the TV should remain in a verticle orientation at all times.</font></i>"To Assemble Or Disassemble The TV Stand, Follow These Steps:

"Place the TV face down on a smooth, soft surface as to not damage or scratch the finish on the TV. For example: If you have the box the TV came packaged you can lay the TV down on top of it or using several towels /a blanket / drop cloths on a large desk or table.

"When you remove or attach the stand, have at least two people involved, one to hold the TV and the other to attach or remove the stand.

"Note: Make sure that the bottom of the TV is near the edge of the table or desk so that you can attach or remove the stand.

"Important: Never transport or store you plasma TV lying down. Always transport or store it upright attached to its stand or in its original packing materials if available. Protect the screen with a blanket or some other large piece of soft material if the original container is not available."

As you can see, Samsung makes no mention of waiting to turn it on. And they don't say you can't lay it down. They just say you shouldn't transport or store it laid down.

I wouldn't be surprised if all the fear mongering about plasma TVs didn't contribute to their demise.

Given the average HDTV buyer has no clue or genuine interest in discerning what constitutes good picture quality, it's no wonder plasma went away. Plus, the typical big box store shopper with low information is more concerned with price and marketing gimmicks ('Smart TV'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) <groan>, putting plasma well below the greater profit margins presented by the preponderance of low end LED/LCDs ;(.

Do not do it that way!!! All Plasmas are ment to be ship up right and if the screen brakes when moving it, it is not covered under the warranty. Best to pay the extra $50 for them to deliver it and if they brake it they pay it. You can also get some shipping straps to hold it in place in the truck and then some wood to displace the force from the straps so it not put undo stress on the tv it self.

Thanks for your input every one. My friend who's truck we will be using basically said the same thing and he will be taking his camper shell off to bring the TV home up right. I just didn't want to inconvenience him to much but he said it would be no problem.

I work for a distribution center where we handle hundreds of plasma and lcd tv's every day. When a truck arrives at our facility we ALLWAYS inspect the shipment before unloading. Any and all plasma or lcd tv's that are lying down (either shipped that way or fell over) are refused. No exceptions!! I would never suggest to anyone to lay one down even for a short time.

an lcd or led can lay anyway you want a plasma however contains phosphorous gas to create an image laying it down disperses the gas making the image distorted and odd colored. once that happens you either buy a new tv or spend around $3000 to fix it.

I used to work at an electronics store in Australia. I've transported many, many plasmas and LCDs sitting on their back, and some even on their front. I've set them up and turned them on straight after unloading, with no ill effects.

In the early days, plasmas had to be transported upright. These days they don't. I've even seen in a Panasonic manual, an instruction to rest the TV on its screen (on a cushion) in order to put the stand on. If that's not a green-light for putting your plasma horizontal, then I don't know what is!

I know American-market TVs aren't as advanced as Australian-market TVs, but I don't think the Americans are three years behind :-P

hi all, i am finding this discussion interesting...just bought a pana th-50pz850a, so heavy i had to turn it upside down (vertically) to fix the stand, and later on i started to worry about maybe i shouldn't have done that.........too late anyway, i did it already, although i did not notice any damage anyway, but am still a bit concerned if that would have done something bad to the set (such as colour, clarity, etc. etc. etc......), can anyone help?

also, those who think it must sit upright, can you give further technical explanations (such as the gas inside might leak or get out of place etc....therefore affecting viewing quality) apart from purely for transporting safety's sake?

Think of how gravity works, along with how it is designed to be viewed/positioned. Is it flat on it's belly or upright? See what I mean. Keep in mind it's a fairly delicate piece of electronics if you factor in how it's intended to be used.

To the person from Oz who mentioned they transported it home in other than an upright position>

Let's use an analogy of your friends who jumped down from the balcony but didn't sprain their ankles. Does this mean you won't necessarily sprain (break) yours? Now you get it, I bet.

Well... right side up ,,, upside down ,,, lay flat,, or dragged behind the car, if treated rough you will damage this delicate instrument.The fact is they were meant to be transported in the up rite position.When they first came out, there were little liquid filled tilt meters on the boxes so you would know if they were ever layed down. We at our dist. center had to refuse any that had the tilt meter empty. We are still told to refuse any flat t v that is laying down. they are expensive so better to be safe.We were told it had to do with the panel coming disconnected or loose.

It doesn't take much bowing of the glass panels to stress the cathodes and affect their conductivity. You may not see any ill effects immediately or even forever, but a damaged cathode(s) could someday fail and you'll wish you paid attention to handling advise. Simpler TV failures as in defective electronics and connectors are relatively cheap to fix, but a screen ... unless you're under warranty.

hi samkh, that's a lot of reading, but thanks, i guess, the short answer is, leave it upright at all times if and when possible and never do anything that is different to what is recommended by the manufacturer (the box says, and later on i found the manual also says, transport it in upright position only, and do not lay flat)...i turned it upside down to fit the stand thinking this is not "transporting", and not "flat" anyway, and it's only for 5 mins so it wouldn't matter, but later on i got a bit concerned....anyway, if that turned out to be a stupid thing to do, i have myself only to blame, would be an expensive lesson

this guy knows what he's talking about.. I work at best buy. and a lot of tv's when we sell them people HAVE to take it in their car.. and it doesn't matter what kind of car you have if its a big tv.. HAS TO GO FLAT on its back.. to turn it back on or even plug , you should always wait 1 hour or 2... depends on how desperate you are to finally watch your tv.

Plasma screens cannot be laid flat. Simply laying one down flat for more than a few minutes is sufficient to crack the internal screen. Something about the gases, I'm really not sure what causes it, but I work in retail, and I know as a matter of fact that just as sure as one gets laid down flat, it's done. Couldn't tell you how many I've seen come back because of this. And you can always tell what caused it, because it specifically cracks the internal glass (the external glass usually remains intact). Trust me, you don't want to lay one down.

Maybe you are being facetious(?) At the 2:23 point in the video you posted it specifically states to *not* transport flat on the floor. Orienting it carefully in a flat position clearly isn't a huge issue provided it's protected adequately.

Separate your bias from your brain being able to construct a proper logical argument for two seconds and re-think what you just asserted incorrectly.

Think about it. When testing/assembling, the components are assembled/combined in a way that does not impede functionality, nor should this impact their performance down the line as such. Think about the weight difference between individual pieces and the whole (much heavier) shebang. They are not placed in a way that puts excess weight or force that would disrupt/damage their functionality. Later on, when fully constructed/tested, they are meant to be used in a vertical fashion, with only appropriate force on certain parts, namely the screen/substrate area. Again, I suggest you search around more for pertinent details so you can re-assess what you think you know about this whole process.

I heard the most ridiculous statement I've heard in a good long while today while purchasing a Panasonic plasma at BestBuy. The guy stood there with a straight face and told me that I couldn't put the plasma in my car on its side, not because torsional forces would likely crack the thin glass panel while on its side, but "because the plasma would settle in the wrong spot and mess up the image"!!! I stood there slack jawed for a brief moment and then decided it would be a useless effort to ask the guy if he actually understood that these displays are named for their highly energetic particles of ionized gas they run on, aka: plasma and not the gooey liquidey stuff that comprises most of our blood... Instead, I politely asked him to please just ship it to my house and quietly walked away... Where the hell do they find these clowns? "...the plasma will move to the wrong spot..." Jesus...

...an 'order taker'. They are no longer on commission, so the attraction/incentive for workers that carry a higher technical skill set is no longer present unfortunately. That's probably not even the worst line of BS I've heard in a big box store either ;).

Just be extremely careful if there is any sort of side to side or up-down motion inside the car where the panel is "secured" <ahem>. Even driving slow doesn't necessary mean you are taking that less of a risk at damaging it potentially. YMMV.

For anyone unsure about placing a plasma on its side. I just picked up a plasma TV and mentioned to the salesperson that due to the size of the screen that I would need to lay it flat to get it in my car and get it home. He said it would be fine, in fact he said that they are shipped to the store horizontally. All four of the sales people agreed and said it is an old wife's tale that plasmas can't be placed or transported on their sides. The only caution was not to power it up for two hours after standing it back up. WRONG!! The screen has about 6 or 7 long cracks on the internals glass. TV ruined.